This invention relates generally to aircraft jacks and, more particularly, to a jack for raising an airplane above ground level during manufacture and for many other maintenance and repair operations. The jacking of an airplane is extremely critical due to airplane flexibility, high gross weights, and numerous other precautionary measures required.
A common device used to lift aircraft is a tripod jack. Tripod jacks generally include a single aircraft interface point extending above a three legged base. Use of traditional tripod jacks for lifting aircraft has drawbacks. One drawback is the amount of time and energy required to lift the aircraft. Another is variant jacking conditions. A need exists for a single jack solution to address all variant conditions.